|
JOBS | DATING | PROPERTY | SHOPPING |
|
|
THE SMART NEWS SOURCE | Feb 10 2010 06:01 | LAST UPDATED Feb 10 2010 06:01 |
|
From prolonged droughts to melting ice caps to heavy flooding and unpredictable weather patterns, climate change effects are already wrecking lives in Africa, the continent that pollutes the least. About 23-million people currently face starvation across east Africa as successive failed rainy seasons have decimated crops, livestock and devastated livelihoods. Residents of Turkana, a region of northern Kenya withered by severe drought, recently found respite when an NGO bought off their emaciated livestock and slaughtered them to feed the starving. "It's the worst drought since 1969, the year when the dromedaries died," recalled Esta Ekouam, a grandmother who has no idea how old she is. Across the border in Ethiopia, poor harvests have left millions at the mercy of relief aid. "The weather has changed, it's not as it used to be before," lamented Tuke Shika, a farmer in southern Ethiopia. "The rains are increasingly erratic and we are getting less and less yields." Experts say the east African drought is the worst in decades. The continent accounts for just 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions but suffers the most from its effects. African countries want rich nations responsible for much of the emissions to make huge cuts and have demanded billions of dollars to cope with the effects of climate change.  CONTINUES BELOW To limit warming to around two degrees Celsius, rich nations must cut emissions by between 25 and 40% by 2020 compared with 1990 levels, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) says. But Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who heads an African Union panel to represent the continent in next month's climate change talks, said there were little signs the Copenhagen meeting will yield firm decisions. "Are we really in that sense unwilling and unable to form a financial climate change partnership with developed countries that will protect citizens here in Kenya, or wherever they may live in the developing world from the consequence of something they don't have responsibility for?" UN Environment Programme chief Achim Steiner said. "It's an extraordinary moral and ethical dilemma that we are now confronted with," he told Agence France-Presse in an interview. A recent US study revealed that snow caps on Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak, are rapidly melting and could vanish completely in 20 years mainly due to climate change. Perhaps in the first case of its kind, climate change has been blamed for altering the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo marked by a river which has changed course over the years. The River Semliki has changed course several times since 1960 as rising water volumes sparked by melting ice caps on the Rwenzori mountain cause mendering and alteration of the boundary, Ugandan scientists said. Rising sea temperatures have also disrupted the annual sardine migration off South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal coast and four out of the past eight years have seen smaller numbers of sardines, researchers said. "The temperature along the KwaZulu-Natal coast is rising to just above what sardines can tolerate," said Sean O'Donoghue, a researcher at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. "We are really at the limit. If the temperature gets warmer with global warming ... sardines are unlikely to come as far up the coast," he said. Southern Africa has this year also witnessed some heavy flooding, with the worst floods since 1972 killing at least 102 people in Namibia. More than 60 also died in Angola. Kenya's Prime Minister Raila Odinga called for sober negotiations during the December 7 to 18 climate change meeting. "We really should not go to Copenhagen and play the hard ball and the blame game," he told Agence France-Presse. "This issue is so crucial that it requires full cooperation because if the North does not cooperate with the South it means all of us are going to be victims. All of us are going to be losers." -- Sapa-AFP TOPICS IN THIS ARTICLE
Comments
Dennis Hoines on November 28, 2009, 9:09 am
It's mentioned 'millions in Ethiopia (are)at the mercy of relief aid'. Nontheless the Ethiopians will add another 69 million starving people in the next ten years, with their present population growth rate. Maybe their prime minister Meles Zanawi should address that challenge also? Such a growth is perhaps a bit extravagant under the circumstances? The same situation applies for many other countries as well. The climate change is not going to be solved, let alone reversed, within the next ten years.
Victor Brown on November 28, 2009, 2:44 pm
click here to log in
M&G Online Comment Guidelines In Brief
Advertising Links
|
2,3-million titles to choose from.
iPod nano 16GB - Black, Was R2,499.00 Now R2,299.00! Save R200!
46 000 DVDs and Blu-Ray on sale now!
100s of new releases now in stock. Get the new Sade & Bon Jovi albums.
Widest toy range and unbeatable prices!
AdvertisementsAdvertising links |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 comments
Make us your home page | Add our headlines to your site | Desktop news with NewsFlash
Contact us | About us | Story tip-offs | Online advertising | Print advertising | Subscriptions | Topics A-Z | Corrections | Mobile sites
All material © Mail & Guardian Online. Material may not be published or reproduced in any form without prior written permission.
Read the site privacy policy and Ispa code of conduct relating to our blog hosting.
RSS feed
This site is proudly hosted by Internet Solutions. We are a member of the Online Publishers Association.
Contact us | About us | Story tip-offs | Online advertising | Print advertising | Subscriptions | Topics A-Z | Corrections | Mobile sites
All material © Mail & Guardian Online. Material may not be published or reproduced in any form without prior written permission.
Read the site privacy policy and Ispa code of conduct relating to our blog hosting.
RSS feed
This site is proudly hosted by Internet Solutions. We are a member of the Online Publishers Association.
 |  |  |
Instead of rabbiting on about global warming, these chaps should do something about the more pressing issue of raw sewerage running down the rivers and being pumped in the sea every day.
The sardines are staying away from the Natal coast because of the staggering amount of filthy pollution that it pumped into the ocean every day.
Durban has even lost their Blue Flag beaches!!
Anyone swimming in this "Natal Sewer" takes an enormous health risk.
Of course the loony Durban council run by mad Mike will claim the beaches are clean - but you can see the floaters if you look carefully when the tide is right!!
Like the sardines - people should stay away from these "boerewors" beaches. Yuk!!
Oh and please let us know, for the record, just how much the temperature of the sea along the coast has risen and over what period.